People being ill at work

Whilst it's clearly true that some people feel pressured to go into work it seems that probably isn't the case with this person.

I kinda disagree. I think the brief history we have shows he is quite comfortable wfh, even for extended periods of time. So the fact that he went in even when sick does rather suggest there is a reason for it that isn't obvious. Pressure from somewhere?

2 edged sword. I remember SARS and Swine Flu where at first sign of anything we were tested. The nurses and admin staff who were positive had an automatic 10 days out. Us Dr’s who tested positive were told to whack on masks, use gloves and crack the fuck on without complaint. So, that may colour my thinking somewhat🤣.

ETA- those directed to take 10 days off from testing positive, fully paid and not taken from their sick leave.

Whilst it's clearly true that some people feel pressured to go into work it seems that probably isn't the case with this person.

However it does make me laugh that whenever we see a thread like this a number of people fall over themselves to say that just because you have been on top of somebody who is sick you might well have caught your illness from somebody else.

That could be the case but it's far more likely that the person who coughs all over you is the person who made you sick.

The OP has posted an update saying that the colleague is a manager so didn’t need permission to wfh.

I don’t understand managers like yours. Surely it’s better to have one sick person working remotely than an office full of miserable people coughing and sneezing. In my company the unofficial policy is that we wfh if we have a cold. Absence due to sickness has gone down massively as most people will still work as long as they can get out of bed, but would be too unwell to commute.

If I asked that to my manager, I would be told that if I am too sick to come in, I am too sick to WFH and so I should take a sick day. And, if I had more than two episodes of sickness in 6 months, it would not be without repercussions.
Luckily, I don't need permission to work from home so can be flexible about that. His situation may be different.

I think it depends. I was once a teacher in a secondary school, there was a huge amount of pressure to go in when ill and everyone did. I used to get lots of colds and other viruses.

I now work in an organisation where everyone mainly works from home. Most people go the office no more than once a week, but it's not compulsory.

People WFH when they're ill so they don't pass their illnesses on to colleagues, it's kind of infomally expected that we would do that. But I realise we are fortunate to be in that position and it's not the case for all jobs. I rarely get ill these days.

If your colleague had the option to work from home and chose not to, YANBU. Your colleague was being inconsiderate.

Also this policy of 3 periods of sickness is unfair. As may get people who had 5 years of no sickness. Then get an unlucky year where they are ill. They get the same punishment as those who just touching distance to getting disciplinary action.

Surgery is not counted for many employers

Ok, well with your update, it does sound like he had the choice so he has been inconsiderate. Assuming he hasn't been put under pressure because he's already been home for 3 weeks.

Also this time of year people need to prevent colds. Need to take at least vitamin D3 which the vitamin people lack this time of year as it’s the vitamin comes from sunlight.

Then if are a fussy eater, or have snotty DC and DGC. Then vitamin C.

From my experience, my fussy eating friends are always have colds.

I’m fuming with my trainee who came in yesterday telling me he’d been throwing the day before and clearly sniffling. I’ve reminded him of the 48hr rule and that we don’t want whatever he has. So I considerate, he wouldn’t have missed anything vital or been missed.

I work in the NHS and I think YABU as he likely didn't have a choice. The NHS sickness policy is grim, ours is 3 absences in a year and then it gets escalated. Given you also work in the NHS, you should probably know the sickness policy forces unwell people into work.

I think you should blame the nhs's antiquated attitude to sick leave and putting everyone on stages and monitoring whether they legitimately needed to go off sick or not. It forces staff to make shitty choices about whether to come in with a cold. I now work in private sector who doesn't monitor illness and the like and you get a lot fewer people coming in and spreading their germs

Unfortunately it's the culture we work in which is incredible after covid.
Also the habit of not ventilation rooms properly.

Employees can be caught in a cleft stick.

Strict rules about having to be in the office X number of days per week and strict rules about how many incidences of sick leave.

Employers who have insisted workers return to the office may find this bites them over winter. Especially where office space has been reduced so workers are having to share workspace.

Most people I know have continued to WFH with various bugs which would have had them take days off sick when office based. IME it's the commute on public transport which is the deciding factor.

If you CAN WFH from home when you're ill then of course you should. But we don't know that this man could.

Do we know that he didn’t ask? Is it essential he’s in the office for that one day ? Knowing the rigidity within the NHS regarding sickness he may have been refused the WFH option if he couldn’t physically come into work on a day he was normally expected to, because he was sick.

It's annoying for you but I agree with those that say lots of people feel they have no choice - 3 episodes of sickness = a disciplinary where I am. You can't really win.

On the face of it he does sound unreasonable but there could be a number of valid reasons he had no choice but to come in

But some people have very little choice if they want to keep their job. Their managers make them - even if it's not directly said, there can be an absolute air of "sick time is not accepted" at various jobs

It's this, isn't it? Very very few people WANT to be at work while ill. So if they are there, it's because they feel they really have to be. Not much point being grumpy at them - they are as much a victim of unhealthy attitudes to sickness as anyone they come into contact with.

I catch a cold literally at least once a fortnight, usually more. It will only last for 24-36 hours but I look and sound horrendous whilst I have it. It drives me bananas, I have a healthy lifestyle, take immune support vitamins and get loads of sleep but I just seem to have a rubbish immune system.

If I stayed off work every time I would be sacked. Not everyone has the option to not work when they have a cold.

Does you employer have the sickness policy of three periods of sickness in a year and its disciplinary action?

I worked for places with this policy and colleagues on their 2nd period of sickness, if they are full of cold like in the OP's colleague. They turn up to work as don't want the stress and worry of disciplinary action.

Employers have this policy as stops employees taking random sickies. Though this is counter productive as this causes well colleagues to be sick.

The person in question does admin working 4 days from home already. All he had to do is ask his
manager to let him wfh the extra day on one occasion.

It IS inconsiderate. But I don't know anyone who goes in ill by choice. I had a horrible flu earlier this year. Had two days off. It was easier to go into work & than get a medical certificate (standard if more than two days). I also felt pressure as I had deadlines. I felt bloody resentful that the bosses wife had just had it & stayed home scot free for a week 'to recover', without any sick leave issues or med certs required. I needed that amount of time, but if I did I'd be cutting into holiday leave.

So, we go to work ill......

The NHS has strict policy regarding sick leave. I have relative who works in a hospital and I can tell you from first hand experience that it takes very little time off sick to trigger disciplinary action. Very few people would voluntarily go to work visibly ill unless there was a good reason - the threat of losing your job for example.